One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Wilmette can be reviewed to determine when it's a good idea to plant cucumbers.

Planting Calendar for Cucumbers

Frost tolerance for cucumbers:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost has passed.

You can not plant cucumbers until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant cucumbers in Wilmette is April. However, you really should wait until May if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant cucumbers and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your cucumbers may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your cucumbers indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Wilmette. You can expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Wilmette may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Wilmette last frost occurs after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your cucumbers if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Wilmette

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-15°F
Highest Expected Low	-10°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -10°F.

Plants to Grow in Wilmette

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Wilmette.